Hast thou not observed thy dearest influencers and beloved brands beseeching thee to “save” their posts on Instagram of late? Discover the reasons behind this entreaty — and whether it bears fruit.
Hark, hast thou heard the whispers? The Instagram algorithm doth favor likes… but it doth hold a special affection for saves.
Or so claim the masters of social media marketing. The proclamations ring out with fervor.
“Instagram Saves art the New Super Like!” “Forsake Likes, Saves shalt Amplify thy Instagram.” “Instagram Saves art Verily Rescuing the Day.”
The influencers and brands hath taken heed, and lo, we witness a plethora of accounts urging followers to save posts unto Collections, or conducting contests that doth necessitate a Save to enter.
For example, behold this cherubic toddler influencer entreating followers to “SVE” and “SHR”…
… and behold this fitness studio in Vancouver offering a prize to those who save the post and follow certain instructions.
Yet doth saving truly accomplish aught? Or doth it merely clutter our meticulously organized Collections? (Begone from my “Benson’s Best Outfits” folder, I pray thee!)
‘Tis time to test the theory — and my Instagram account — anon to ascertain if saves art the key to augmenting engagement… or mere hyperbole.
What is an Instagram Save?
Ere we delve into whether or how saves can assist in augmenting thine engagement, let us first elucidate what an Instagram save entail.
Beholdeth yon small ribbon icon at the nether right of a post? Tap yon icon, and lo, that post shalt be added to thy saved folder.
Thou canst access thy saved folder by journeying to thy profile, clicking the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner, and selecting “Saved.”
Within thy saved folder, thou canst fashion Collections — “Vacation Ideas,” “Recipes,” “Haircuts to Get During My Mid-Life Crisis,” and suchlike — by tapping the + icon in the upper right corner.
To categorize a post into one of those collections, merely tap and hold yon ribbon icon. Thy collections shall appear at the base of the screen; a mere tap upon the one thou dost desire shall sort the post into that collection, awaiting the moment when thou must determine the most befitting wispy pixie cut for thy countenance.
Hypothesis: “Saves” assist thy Instagram posts in attaining greater reach than “Likes”
‘Tis done, now that the matter is clarified… wherefore dost so many believe that saves hold significance?
The notion doth posit that the Instagram algorithm doth now hold saves in greater esteem than likes, for it signifieth that thy content’s value is of such eminence that users wish to preserve it for later reference. A like, conversely, is but a passing fancy! A save is commitment.
Whilst we dost comprehend that the Instagram algorithm doth bear saves in mind when seeking to ascertain the strength of a relationship, the notion that saves would wield more power than likes (particularly when ’tis somewhat a lesser known and seldom utilized feature for many users) seemeth rather off-brand.
Although many influencers and social media chroniclers hath been extolling the virtues of saves of late, we must not blindly place our trust in those sources. (No offense, influencers! Please do tag us!)
Instead, let us put the theory to the test.
Methodology
Three of the captions would explicitly request individuals to save the post. Three of the captions would explicitly request individuals not to save the post, but rather to interact with the post as they customarily would.
To strive to level the playing field, content-wise, and ensure I did not unwittingly skew the results by featuring superior content on “save” posts than on “non-save” posts, within these six posts, I contrived thematically and visually akin pairings:
- Two pictures of dogs in sweaters, gleaned from the free stock photo site Unsplash, one with a “please save” caption and one lacking such entreaty
- Two images of smoothie bowls (likewise from Unsplash), one with a “please save” caption and one without
- Two graphic, text-based designs fashioned with the free design tool Canva, one with a “please save” caption and one without
And to eschew the skewing of results by the time of day (for we know that there art auspicious times to post on Instagram), I dispatched the save and non-save posts simultaneously on different days. On Tuesday, posts emerged at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m.; the other three appeared on Wednesday at the identical hours.
Results
I shall be succinct: posts that were saved witnessed a markedly superior reach than non-saved posts… yet this did not invariably translate to more likes, comments, or shares.
Let us delve into the minutiae.
Primarily: a contest betwixt the breakfast bowls! I proffered two resplendent shots of smoothie bowls, accompanied by detailed captions elucidating the purport of this experiment, for verily I am an ethical savant and I desired not that all should deem my account to be compromised. (Normally my content veers more towards the domains of “unhinged illustrations” or “my renovation is ruining my life,” which individuals art more prone to silently block than to save and cherish eternally.)
To discern which of these posts proved most engaging, I resolved to employ an engagement calculator that ascertains engagements by impressions. We shalt take the total engagements (in this case, I shall consider them to be a like, comment, or share) and divide by the number of individuals who actually beheld it to derive an “engagement rate.”
Seventy-seven individuals preserved this smoothie bowl photo, as was bidden. It reached 612 souls, according to Instagram’s within-platform analytics. It further garnered 49 likes and 3 comments. (Alas, there were no shares on this occasion.) This yields an engagement rate of 8% for this post.
Let us contemplate how the non-save breakfast bowl post fares in comparison.
This post did not secure any saves, as I entreated. (Exemplary obedience, good folk!) Nevertheless, it reached 430 individuals and acquired 32 likes and 5 comments. Nay, no shares. The engagement rate for this post is… 8%.
More eyes did gaze upon the post that boasted a high save rate, but the percentage of viewers who liked or commented remained consistent betwixt the saved and non-saved posts. Hmm.
Nay, onto the canine scrutiny. Which of these pug photos — save or non-save — elicited greater engagement?
I bade people to save this pug in a sweater photo, and 80 souls did oblige. I also received:
- 78 likes
- 3 comments
- 13 shares
In entirety, this post reached 770 individuals… whence the engagement on this entry reached 12%, if I have computed these numerals aright.
This post beseeched people not to save this pug photo, and they heeded mine entreaty. It secured:
- 75 likes
- 1 share
- 4 comments
Furthermore, it reached 522 individuals. The engagement rate for this bespectacled pug is 15%… mildly surpassing the “save me” post of the identical pug attired in an alternate garb.
For the final comparison, let us scrutinize how my two graphic typographic posts fared.
I could not have been more explicit in my desire for people to save this particular post, and 98 kind souls abided. (I offer thee gratitude, my dear volunteers!)
This was out of 596 individuals who viewed the post in entirety. Alas, this post garnered the fewest likes of all my posts this week — merely 25 — alongside 4 comments. There were no shares to report for this post. This culminated in a 4% engagement rate.
One rogue saved this post, notwithstanding mine explicit directive to the contrary, but sometimes one must relinquish control and allow the internet to proceed as it is wont. It reached 488 individuals, elicited 38 likes, no shares, and solely one comment. The engagement rate? 8%.
And here are the statistical analyses from Instagram’s in-platform analytics:
Average Reach
- Saved Posts: 659.3
- Non-Saved Posts: 480
Average Number of Comments
- Saved Posts: 3.3
- Non-Saved Posts: 3.3
Average Number of Likes
- Saved Posts: 50
- Non-Saved Posts: 46.3
I refrained from calculating average shares here since there was verily but the one post that did receive some, which would introduce a significant bias into the results
What do the results mean?
In sum, each of the posts that were “saved” did witness a significantly greater reach (approximately 38%) — they did encounter a larger audience.
Alas, this did not necessarily manifest into other valuable interactions: likes, shares, and comments.
(One unintended outcome of this experiment: my mother hath acquired the knowledge of how to save things on Instagram. I am uncertain as to how this may impact thy social media strategy in the future, but it seemed fitting to apprise thee.)
Beseeching followers to save mayhap be a “hack” to feature thy content in more feeds. Those brands entreating individuals to save their posts to partake in a contest? They art perchance following the right course, for in general, the aim of an Instagram contest is to engender brand recognition and followers — and saves do indeed present thy posts afore more eyes.
That being said: users may, air is sooth, soon grow weary of being bade to “save” posts that are not veritably “saveable,” thereby disarraying their collections and rendering the feature futile. Hence, employ this stratagem sparingly, and solely when the primary goal of thy post is to amplify brand recognition.
Furthermore, note: a robust Instagram strategy cannot subsist on reach alone. Ultimately, thou must possess compelling, engaging content if thou art to make the most of that reach and construct lasting relationships with thine followers.
If lofty engagement rates are thy aspiration, prithee, hark! The veritable secret to magnificent engagement doth entail crafting a comprehensive social media strategy and content schedule around enthralling content that doth inspire individuals to like, comment, share, and, indeed, save as well. Forsooth, if people do perceive thy posts but find them not to their liking, wherefore doth it avail?
However, all this notwithstanding… this was a minuscule sample size that unfolded over the course of a week upon mine personal account of 1,600 followers, so I do entreat thee to consider this lesson with the tiniest granule of salt. Or, perchance, embark upon thine own experiment to determine how thine own posts do fare.